. -- chuck hagel. here is a look. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm pleased to see an old friend and senator warner and the members of this committee who have contributed so much to our nation's defense. senator hagel, members of this committee will raise questions reflecting concerns with your policy positions. our concerns pertain to the quality of your professional judgment and your worldview on critical areas of national security, including security in the middle east. with that in mind, let me begin with your opposition to the surge in iraq. 2006 republicans lost the election and we began the surge and you wrote a piece in "the washington post." in 2007, you said it does not in the national interest to have military involvement. there was an exchange with secretary rice and the foreign relations committee after some nonsense about syria crossing the border into iran because of the surge. there is a reference to cambodia in 1970. you said "when he said he motioned, the kind of policies the president is talking about is very dangerous. as a mat